RE: [SG?] Cammo

On Aug 10, Ryan Gill <rmgill@mindspring.com> wrote:
> 
> Hmm, I was thinking about this further in the shower. If the beam 
> weapons are really just lasers then its an optical beam anyhow
> right? Being able to get one on a target is just an exercise in
> optics, fire control and aiming components then correct?

     Not quite, but those elements will definitely be involved. In 
theory you're right I suspect. In practise, it's never that simple, 
but it might be close....

> Well, a computer could be set up to watch specific portions of
> space, by looking for abnormalities like glint, occluded stars and
> extra objects, a defender could easily begin tracking bogeys only
> with optical gear. No active emissions. Though they would have had
> to have been there a while so as to be able to track most if not
> all objects they'd be using as a comparative data base. Once the
> computer had a hit, you'd have a crewman check it out with long
> range optical gear attached to a fine res CCD sensor system.

     Hate to say it, but you don't win any prizes for originality. 
This idea has been suggested many times, and it seems likely that it 
would be the main way of detecting things, with one change.
     Looking for optical signatures is ok, especially for reflection 
(even a 99.99% black surface still outshines stars which we can see 
in today's telescopes). However, more useful is likely to be looking 
for heat.
     Assuming your spaceship is crewed by humans or a near 
equivalent, they'll want an internal temperature of somewhere around 
20 degrees centigrade (close enough to 300 kelvins). Thus, their ship 
will be a blackbody emmitter at roughly that temperature.
     Unfortunately, you can't disguise your emmitted heat with camo, 
and you can't look like most objects in the solar system without 
lowering your internal temperatures to -150 or so. Your crew may not 
be pleased to be living in those conditions.
     If there's only one telescope looking from one direction, you 
can reduce these effects through active baffling and radiators 
pointing in the other direction (although it'll reduce your 
efficiency and depending on how much you're trying to mask, it'll run 
you right into the limits of materials technology and the 2nd law of 
thermodynamics). However, such radiators are dead easy to spot, and 
so if there are a number of telescopes in many locations, active 
baffling doesn't really help you. This is the main reason that your 
paint job doesn't make too much difference -- you'll probably be 
spotted by your blackbody curve long before you could be spotted 
based on reflected visible light.